Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
McCullers struck out six over four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.
McCullers would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Box-Toppers Player of the Day if this were a regular season game. Because it’s a preseason exhibition game, no Box-Toppers points are awarded.
McCullers earned 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 41st among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Yu Darvish struck out three over three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Darvish would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day in a regular season day. He earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020 with the Cubs, third among all players and second among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Michael Conforto of the Mets went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Cardinals.
Conforto would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day in a regular season day. Conforto earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020. In 2019, he earned 8.7 points, eighth among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Zack Short of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-1 win over the Orioles.
Short would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day in a regular season day. Short has not yet made his regular season Major League debut.
There were 14 games played Sunday. No Player of the Game was named in two of the games because they ended in ties (Red Sox 5, Twins 5 and Angels 1, Cubs 1). Box-Toppers’ Player of the Game winners for the other 12 games are listed in the chart below.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in exhibition games. Were it a regular season day, McCullers would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Darvish would have earned 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Conforto and Short would have each earned 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would have earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 3/14 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +7.0 | HOU 5, WSH 0 | Lance McCullers Jr., (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | +6.0 | SD 10, CIN 4 | Yu Darvish, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| +6.0 | CHW 1, OAK 0 | Codi Heuer, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | `TEX 3, COL 1 | Kohei Arihara | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +4.1 | `SEA 5, MIL 4 (F/8) | Yusei Kikuchi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | NYM 7, STL 5 | Michael Conforto, RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | DET 5, BAL 1 | Zack Short, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | PHI 6, PIT 5 | Matt Moore, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.2 | SF 6, ARI 3 | Conner Menez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | KC 8, LAD 4 | Bubba Starling, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 8, TB 7 | Ehire Adrianza, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 5, TOR 1 | Max McDowell, C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.0 | BOS 5, MIN 5 (F/8) | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.0 | LAA 1, CHC 1 | N/A | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.